


Birthdays and Choices

by athenswrites



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Hermione comforts sad Draco, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Lightly inspired by Taylor Swift, Song: The Moment I Knew (Taylor Swift)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 18:28:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29458242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/athenswrites/pseuds/athenswrites
Summary: Draco doesn't show up to Hermione's birthday party.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	Birthdays and Choices

The sun was nearly over the horizon now.

The golden-yellow orb was dipping just below the line where the sky met the sea, casting a breath-taking glow across the sea. On a normal day, Hermione would've found the view to be stunning, but today wasn't exactly a normal day. In fact, it was her twenty-second birthday and they were celebrating on the beach by Shell Cottage. Harry and Ron had arranged the whole party. Even went as far as coordinating with Bill and Fleur—who were both more than happy to host them for the day—to make sure her birthday was perfect. They only sent out invites to the closest people in her life, knew her well enough to understand she wouldn't want a grand celebration.

The guest list included a total of seven people: Harry, Ron, Ginny, Luna, Pansy, Theo, and of course, Draco. The one who meant the most to her; the one who _really_ mattered. Now she truly did love her friends dearly, but in the past few years of her life, Draco had quickly made his way up her list of most important people. In just two years, he had claimed the number one spot. Birthed from catharsis, their love was unexpected and took them both by surprise.

Being in love with Draco Malfoy was beautifully chaotic.

There were times when the war would come back to haunt him in dreams; usually, images of her lifeless body laid out on the cold floor of the Malfoy Manor. Hermione always woke up a few seconds before he did. She would place his hand on her beating heart, assure him he was safe—that _she_ was safe—and that they were alright.

They'd get dirty looks in public, a war hero and a war criminal in love. Who would've thought? Hermione received hate mail daily, sometimes even death threats from other Muggle-born wizards. They called her a traitor, that she had betrayed them. She didn't really mind them, they were all empty threats after all—but Draco—Draco would become furious and insist on hunting down who had sent each letter.

They fought over this frequently. Hermione couldn't care less about the stupid letters, but Draco became obsessed with finding each individual sender. She made him promise to stop, all she wanted was his arms around her every night; she could protect herself. Two weeks after his uninstall promise, she had a sneaking suspicion he didn't stick to it and when she tried to bring it up, Draco muttered incoherent things under his breath and left her alone in their London flat.

But even after everything, all the highs and lows—especially the lows, they loved each other with everything they had.

_So why wasn't he here?_

It was her birthday, for Merlin's sake, and Draco Malfoy was nowhere to be found. She had asked him to be there and he said he would. The party started four hours ago, and at first, Hermione thought, maybe he was caught up in an errand and was going to be late; so she waited.

The first hour passed by, then the second, then the third, and by the fourth, Hermione gave up on waiting by the cottage. So she went down to the beach to stare at the sunset.

"Granger," Theo's voice said from behind her, he came to a stop next to her and slipped his hands into his pockets. "What are you doing out here?"

She shrugged, feeling a bit cold in her dress. "I just wanted to be alone for a bit."

He shifted uncomfortably next to her and kicked a small cloud of sand into the air, "I'm sure he'll show up soon, Draco... he—"

"It's fine, Theo," Hermione interrupted him, crossing her arms across her chest. The sea breeze was picking up now and her curls flew rapidly with the air. "You don't need to make excuses for him. If he wanted to be here, he would be here."

"If it makes you feel better, I'll be sure to give him a proper beating later."

She laughed lightly, "It does make me feel better, thanks."

"Let's get you home, it's getting colder than Voldemort's arse out here and the party's a bust," he said, holding out his hand. Hermione gladly placed her hand in his and then they Apparated. They reappeared outside her flat and he flashed one of his cheeky smiles, "If he's in there, give him hell for me, alright?"

"Anything for you, Theo," she chuckled, fishing her keys out of her bag. He gave her a small wave before disappearing with a snap again.

The first thing she noticed when she stepped into the warmth of her home was a tall figure with bloodstained fingertips standing in the middle of the room, she'd recognize that silhouette anywhere. Her heart rose to her throat.

"Draco," she said instantly, rushing to him. "Draco, are you alright?"

He spun around and her eyebrows drew together instantly. There were more bloodstains on his cheek and a small scar ran along his jawline. Her lips parted in shock and confusion, "Wha—"

"I'm fine, Granger," he said, there was regret in his tone. "Just got into a small fight."

"Wha—I... w-where were you?" Hermione stammered, shaking her head as she tried to understand what was happening.

Draco lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. Her eyes drifted to the envelope that rested on the kitchen counter, the corners of the parchment covered in dried blood. She recognized it immediately as one of the letters and her worry quickly transformed into anger.

"I thought I told you to stop," she said quietly, her eyes burning into the envelope and broken wax seal. "You promised, Draco."

"I know—"

She lifted her head to look at him, "No, no, you didn't show up because you were busy doing _this_?"

"Granger—"

"It's my birthday today, Malfoy," she interjected him again and the use of his last name caused him to wince. "I haven't seen you all day."

"I'm sorry," he gulped nervously. "I was so close. I needed to find them, the things they said they'd do in that letter was infuriating, Hermione. You didn't read it, you don't understand—"

" _I_ don't understand?" she echoed, her eyebrows rose in astonishment. She could not believe what she was hearing. "I am _not_ a damsel in distress, Malfoy. If these bloody threats ever do happen to be true, I can protect myself just fine."

"You're not even taking them seriously, how are you supposed to protect yourself from danger if you can't even see it coming?" Draco retorted, he spun around and took long strides to the sitting room with Hermione following close behind. He collapsed on one of their couches, burying his face in his hands.

Hermione tossed the envelope on the coffee table and huffed, "I'm smarter than you, I know more curses, jinxes, hexes, and spells, you know that. I could defend myself better than you and most of these threats are meaningless, so why can't you just let this go already?"

"IF I CAN'T EVEN PROTECT YOU, THEN WHAT GOOD AM I?" he yelled suddenly, lifting his head to look at her. His voice was raw and ricocheted off the walls. He shut his eyes and drew in a sharp breath.

"...What do you mean?" Hermione finally spoke after a long and drawn-out silence. She licked her lips, taking cautious steps toward him until she sat next to him. She placed a gentle hand on his cheek, directing him to look at her. "Draco, what are you talking about?"

He leaned into her touch, still avoiding looking into her eyes, "These past two years have been the happiest fucking years of my life."

"Mine too."

"No, no, Granger, _stop_. I didn't do _anything_ that day at the Manor and the memory of your screams haunt me every single day. I'd be damned if I just ignored these letters and stood here useless again."

"Draco—"

"You have brought me nothing but endless happiness," he interrupted, voice shaking. He shook his head and his eyebrows furrowed in visible pain. "All I've brought into your life has been pain and danger. The very least I could do is protect you. So, _please_ , Granger. Please don't ask me to do nothing, I can't do that again. _I can't_."

"Draco, listen to me," Hermione said sternly, she forced him to look at her. Her eyes were burning with the threat of tears. "You and I? I wouldn't trade it for all the peace and quiet in the world, because I choose _you_ , Draco. And I wouldn't hesitate to choose you, _to choose us_ , any day. It's you and it's always been you."

He lifted his hand to meet her own that rested on his cheek, "I'm still a fucking idiot."

"Yes, but you're my idiot," she smiled, resting her forehead on Draco's.

"I love you," he said quietly, "so much it hurts."

She leaned forward and planted a delicate kiss on his lips. " _I love you more._ "

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovely readers! Might delete/unpublish this like... tomorrow because of how trash it is.
> 
> This was just something I wrote really quickly cause I've been experiencing writer's block for salt air, decided to just post it cause why not. It is kinda all over the place, but I haven't given y'all new content in nearly two weeks so this is just to let you know that I have not disappeared. I will do my best to update Salt Air within a week though, school has been TOUGH. Just turned in a 20-page paper on Friday, ya girl is exhausted. 
> 
> Also, I've been working on a new story that I am very excited about, so keep a lookout for that! I love you all, thank you for all the endless and unconditional support you've shown me <3


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